So there has already been one acceptance on tgc from last Friday, but no peep from anyone else. Could this be a fake post? In past years a few people responded when decisions were out, and this admit has come a little early (historically, as per tgc). Does anyone else have info about Villanova's process?

I'm not sure whether the post is a fake, but to my knowledge, no one here claimed it. (That doesn't necessarily mean anything, obviously).

I talked to someone I know in the dept., and I was told that decisions were made last week, so I'm thinking we can expect to see something pretty soon. Someone speculated that the post on TGC was for the philosophy/theology spot.

I'm curious about the role of connections in admissions to Leiter top-ten schools. In particular, my guess is that a large (i.e., larger than three quarters) percent of admits to such programs enjoy at least one major connection.

Here's what I think comprises such a connection. First, the target program could be the PhD-granting institution (or did graduate work there or whatever) for one of the applicant's letter writer(s). Second, the target program has senior faculty who are close associates or friends of the applicant's letter writer(s). Third, the target program has multiple senior faculty who work in a specialized area that the applicant's letter writer(s) is nationally or internationally acclaimed for (i.e., target has two+ snr faculty in phil mind and the letter writer is Dennett).

Here's a way to do a small poll here for this. If you or someone you know meets any of the three criteria above and was admitted at a Leiter top-ten, write `1'. If you or someone you know doesn't meet any of these three criteria and was admitted at a Leiter top-ten, write `0'. Repeat this for each program/admit pair known to you.

So a sample poll response would look like: `11100', meaning three people got in meeting the criteria and two didn't. Rejections are all discarded.

These schools will begin notifying applicants this week (I called the departments and asked, rather than checking last year's TGC). Add to the list if you have contacted a program and have been told a definite time period for notifications.

It's likely to be a genuine post based on last years dates of notifications (several admissions on Monday February 23 last year); though, I'm inclined to doubt it because of the huge numbers of frauds lurking here and there, and because it strangely coincides with the post inquiring about Yale acceptances.

On TGC, there is a second post about rejection by correspondence with Prof. Holton. I also wrote to him last Friday, but still got no response at this point. Does it mean that my appication is so bad that even a rejection letter is redundant...also, I think I am out as well in Yale's case.

I hear you. I'm officially 0 for 2. But I think I'm really 0 for 6. And my three remaining schools are not promising. Well... one of the three would have been a good shot, if it wasn't for them cutting back on admissions this year. Unlike others, if I'm shut out this year, I'm done for good.